Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government received two reports in 2022, one jointly from NHS Fife and NHS Lothian and one jointly from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Ayrshire and Arran. The reports contain data on the number of women in threatened extreme preterm labour (labour at less than 27 weeks gestation) who were transferred from NHS Fife to NHS Lothian or from NHS Ayrshire and Arran to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in anticipation of the requirement for specialist neonatal care for their baby.

This is a matter for Public Health Scotland (PHS), SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences for Scottish patients are analysed by the Bioinformatics team within PHS. The information is not held centrally, and I have asked PHS to respond separately.

The Prescribing Information System (PIS) holds information on medicines and devices dispensed in the community, and the Hospital Medicines Utilisation Database (HMUD) holds information on medication provided in secondary care settings. Contraceptives are accessed and supplied by a variety of routes and the extent to which these supplies are captured within PIS and HMUD varies by type of contraception. For example, oral contraceptives are largely prescribed by General Practice and dispensed by Community Pharmacies and so are well recorded within PIS, whereas Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC) are more commonly provided through secondary care managed services such as Sexual Health Clinics and so are better represented within HMUD.

Over-the-counter non-prescribed contraception will not be included in either dataset; Public Health Scotland holds no data on this.

Costs are provided in table 1 below. However, a meaningful measure of the number of contraceptives issued across all drug groups is not possible. The length of cover provided by one product unit of contraception can vary from one day (e.g., one tablet) to up to ten years (e.g., one intrauterine device or IUD). Whilst measures of quantity are available within PIS and HMUD, these are for indicative purposes only and cannot be practically used to compare the amounts of different types of contraception distributed.

Table 1: Cost of contraceptives issued in PIS and HMUD from 2018/19 to 2022/23, by BNF paragraph

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

SPS records the number of training interventions delivered rather than the number of staff who have received the training. The diverse range of individuals who have benefited from these interventions include both operational staff and members of the senior leadership team.

SPS Trauma-informed training is linked to a range of learning and development interventions for SPS staff. As of 10 July 2023, SPS has delivered 2608 trauma-informed training interventions to staff.

Ministers have not met with universities and colleges to discuss RAAC. Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council officials have met on three occasions to discuss this matter, the last meeting of which was held on 5th July.

The Scottish Government has noted the LGBT Health and Wellbeing’s report and continues to listen to the lived experience of refugees and people seeking asylum in a variety of ways.

The New Scots refugee integration strategy was informed by engagement across Scotland, including refugees and people seeking asylum from the LGBT+ community. The strategy recognises that people seeking safety on the basis of their LGBT+ identity can face particular challenges within the asylum process and as refugees. The strategy seeks to ensure that these issues are understood when developing policy or taking action to support refugees and people seeking asylum living in Scotland. We are committed to working with our partners to refresh the New Scots strategy and more information about engagement will be available in due course.

The report also raises significant concerns relating to asylum accommodation. Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of asylum accommodation and support. I hope the Home Office and its contractors will be engaging with LGBT Health and Wellbeing on their report to understand the issues people have experienced.

Scotland has a long history of welcoming people of all nationalities and faiths, including those seeking refuge and asylum from war and persecution. The New Scots refugee integration strategy was informed by engagement across Scotland, including refugees and people seeking asylum from the LGBT+ community. The strategy recognises that people seeking safety on the basis of their LGBT+ identity can face particular challenges within the asylum process and as refugees. We are committed to supporting the integration of asylum seekers and refugees into our communities and working with our partners to refresh the New Scots strategy.

LGBT Health & Wellbeing’s LGBT+ Refugee Project received £277,000 from the Scottish Government’s Investing in Communities Fund from 2019-2023 and an additional £30,000 from the Equality and Human Rights Fund in March 2023.

The recent report from LGBT Health and Wellbeing raises significant concerns relating to asylum accommodation. Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and handled by the Home Office. This includes provision of asylum accommodation and support. I hope the Home Office and its contractors will be engaging with LGBT Health and Wellbeing on their report to understand the issues people have experienced.

Statistics relating to the progress of the Affordable Housing Supply Programme are published quarterly on the Scottish Government website. These statistics relate to the number of approvals, site starts and completions of social and affordable homes, and can be accessed using the following link : https://www.gov.scot/publications/housing-statistics-for-scotland-new-house-building/ .

A table showing the number of affordable homes approved under the Affordable Housing Supply Programme in each of the last five financial years, broken down by local authority area, has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number 64393).

The Ukraine Super Sponsor Scheme does not have a legislative underpinning. The legal obligations or responsibilities which flow from it are founded in either other legislative duties or from legitimate expectations based on government statements or policy.

The Ukraine Super Sponsor Scheme does not have a legislative underpinning. The legal obligations or responsibilities which flow from it are founded in either other legislative duties or from legitimate expectations based on government statements or policy.